Windows Neptune Build 5111.iso - A Rare and Unreleased Version of Windows
Windows Neptune was a canceled version of Windows 2000 oriented towards the home market. It had featured elements brought over from Windows ME as well as new concepts such as activity centers. No final release of Neptune shipped and most work was rolled into Whistler, which later became Windows XP.
Windows Neptune Build 5111.iso
Build 5111 is the only leaked build of Windows Neptune that is available to the public. It was titled the Microsoft Neptune Developer Release and has a version number of 5.5.5111 (which Windows XP and 2003, 5.1 and 5.2 respectively will see as a newer version). It was released on December 27, 1999 and can be downloaded from various sources on the internet, such as [Archive.org] or [WinWorld].
Features of Windows Neptune Build 5111
Windows Neptune Build 5111 had some features that were unique to this version or later changed in Whistler. Some of these features are:
The login screen was overhauled and had a friendlier full-screen version similar to what shipped with XP, however in Neptune the login screen is an HTA (Hypertext Application - a.k.a. HTML and JavaScript) and not based on DirectUI. Installing IE 6.0 on this build may cause the login screen to cease functioning. Users can have account pictures attached just like in XP.
Neptune allowed for additional account types: Owner, Adult, Child and Guest. The Child account type had safeguards such as Internet content filtering and limited access time. Control of user accounts was through the Windows Identities control panel and was again an HTA.
The help and support center was directly brought over from Windows ME and much of the Millennium branding remains.
Neptune had a new feature called Activity Centers, which were task-oriented user interfaces that grouped related functions together. For example, there was a Music Center, a Photo Center, a Game Center, etc. These activity centers were also HTAs and could be customized by the user.
Neptune had a new file system called MFS (Media File System), which was designed to store multimedia files more efficiently and provide better indexing and searching capabilities. MFS was based on NTFS and used reparse points to store metadata about files.
Installation Instructions for Windows Neptune Build 5111
If you want to try out Windows Neptune Build 5111, you will need a BIOS date of December 11, 1999 or earlier. You can use a virtual machine software such as VirtualBox or VMware to create a virtual machine with the following specifications:
OSWindows 2000
CPUPentium II or higher
RAMAt least 128 MB
HDDAt least 2 GB
CD-ROMWindows Neptune Build 5111.iso
After creating the virtual machine, you can boot from the CD-ROM and follow the installation wizard. You will need to enter a product key, which can be found on the internet or generated by a keygen program. You can also choose to install MFS or NTFS as your file system.
Note that Windows Neptune Build 5111 is slow to load after logon due to a misbehaving service. You can disable this service by going to Start > Run > services.msc and stopping the "Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator" service.
Conclusion
Windows Neptune Build 5111 is a rare and unreleased version of Windows that shows some of the ideas that Microsoft had for the home market in the late 1990s. It has some features that were later incorporated into Windows XP, as well as some that were abandoned or changed. It is an interesting piece of software history that can be explored by curious users and enthusiasts.
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